The Reborn Faction Backstory
The Undead Scourge The Scourge is one of three major undead factions existing in the world of Azeroth (the other two being the Forsaken and the Knights of the Ebon Blade), and a major player for control of the world. They once had a vast "empire". Created initially as the precursor to an invasion by the Burning Legion after their previous failures, the Scourge broke free from their demonic masters and — under the iron rule of the dread Lich King — who took up residence in Northrend... Their presence had a great impact in the world of Azeroth, throughout the continent of Eastern Kingdoms ( Lordaeron, Quel'Thalas were destroyed by the undead ). The Awakening of the Lich King For 5 years, since Arthas became one with Ner'zhul, the Lich King stood by as the mortal races of the Horde and Alliance battled against the Burning Legion and themselves. One day, Arthas awoke and began to summon his armies to declare war on the races of Azeroth... His armies consist of basic undead units ( ghouls, geists, skeletons...), to (Undead Nerubians, Abominations)... including the Death Knights, who were once former heroes of the Light who stood boldly against the Shadow to free their world of all Evil, and Necromancers. Several leaders were chosen by Ner'zhul to oversee his Mighty Empire grow and conquer the world in his name, some of those leaders were: *Drakuru *Kel'thuzad *Baron Rivendare *Darion Mograine *Scourgelord Tyrannus *Anub'arak *... ________________________________________________________________________________________________ After the first wave of troops during the Assault on Orgrimmar and Stormwind, several members of each race were taken to be "transformed" or "brainwashed" to become Ner'zhul's vessels of destruction, these were the first "Warriors" to become Death Knights. Though some proved worthy of their new powers and Master, others were not that fortunate and were marked for death, due to being weak. There are some Death Knights (not necessarily just Death Knights) who became quite popular in the ranks of the Scourge Military, these were seen as examples to the others, and for many, they were seen as targets. This means that those who managed to kill these "targets" would rise to higher ranks and get acknowledged. Some of these "examples" were: *Menelaus *Lorthermur *Ryder Wrathbane *Heini the Dreadshade *Kredroin *Icebane Dremon *... They were rewarded with titles, armor, weapons, powers for their achievements on the battlefield... They were on the Top Ranking list of the Scourge's Elite Forces. While in this group they performed special tasks that no other minions could handle from razing Scarlet Crusade Fortresses to battling enemies through time including the Infinite Dragonflight (Culling of Stratholme, as these Dragons tried to kill Prince Arthas, the first Death Knight). They have had countless successful missions, but a few didnt go as they had hoped... Battle of Angrathar This battle was first foreseen to be a success for both the Horde and the Alliance to send a statement to the Lich King, both sides were united in arms to end this war at that very place in Northrend. Angrathar The Wrath Gate was under siege by both Horde and Alliance. They had set up the bases of Fordragon Hold, for the Alliance, and Kor'kron Vanguard, for the Horde. Despite the long lasting battle, the Horde and the Alliance made it past the blockade of Scourge Minions and other lackeys ( Frost Vrykuls...) ending up face to face with the Lich King, who revived all the fallen undead to fight once more. Even though the Forsaken, eventually appeared and throw a new perfected plague that almost destroyed Ner'zhul, it also ravaged the troops of the Alliance and Horde, filling more ranks to the Undead. Ironic to see such a great weapon like the Newly Plague in the hands of a race who could not wield it correctly. Instead of damaging their true enemy, the Scourge, they damaged themselves in the process while handing their fallen to Arthas' grasp. These fallen soldiers became nothing more than mindless Undead under the influence of the Dark Lord of the Dead... A few months later, word came that Heini and Menelaus were traitors who had given the Argent Crusade the Scourge's Battle Plans. New Members quickly arose through the ranks and convinced the whole Scourge's Elite Forces' members that they had been deceived and there were betrayers among them. This resulted in an uprising and the death of both Menelaus and Heini the Dreadshade. Baron Lorthermur was one of the few members to refuse the orders of assassination of his "companions"... The War in Northrend and the Siege of Icecrown While the War of Northrend was going on... many players come across the Scarlet Onslaught's base of operations in Dragonblight. This base camp was the target of Lorthermur's Scourge, who at the time had been given the control of a small yet powerful task force, commanded by his Master, Lorthermur, still Baron at the time, raided this base several times causing the Scarlet to be almost overwhelmed, however the advance of the both the Horde and Alliance upon Icecrown, resulted in a withdraw leaving the Scarlet Onslaught to tend to their wounds and putting them out of action until the end of the war. Baron Pendragon, was one of the Military leaders, along with Ryder Wrathbane and Icebane Dremon, responsible for the "surprises" and traps found in Icecrown, which led many of the Argent Crusade to fall. Ryder Wrathbane became prey to the Ebon Blade who surrounded him on one of the walls of the Citadel, the battle was short as Ryder got killed after crushing almost half of the twelve man group who had him cornered. Icebane Dremon was declared "Missing In Action" after the adventurers of both Horde and Alliance stormed the Forge of Souls. Lorthermur, however, was visited by the spirit of King Terenas who persuaded the Baron to lead his own small army to Azeroth and rebuild their, due to the upcoming events... Freedom at Last... Lorthermur became aware of the presence of a new Lordaeron Flagship, under the rule of Maros Menethos, related to the deceased King Terenas Menethil... Maros Menethos was trying to overthrow the Forsaken from the Undercity and restore the Kingdom of Lordaeron to its formar glory, Gabriel convinced Maros to accept him, and Pendragon's Loyalists, into his army to crush the remainder of the Forsaken in exchange for a small territory including both Deathknell and the Ruins of the Scarlet Monastery. A Broken Allegiance Two years later, the Kingdom of Lordaeron was in dire straights, the prince had been captured and killed by the surviving minions of Lady Sylvanas, King Maros was close to death and the armies were split to secure several strategic checkpoints on the frontlines against the rest of the Horde, leaving the Forsaken to roam freely. It didnt take long for the Undercity to be recaptured and operating as Horde territory once more. Lorthermur met with Lady Sylvanas Windrunner and proposed neutrality, convincing her that he knew a way she could redeem herself in the eyes of the new Warchief of the Horde and the other races. Although Sylvanas didnt trust Lorthermur, she really needed to repair the damage caused by Varimathras, during the battle for the Wrathgate. Weeks later, she started developing a plan to assassinate Lorthermur and his minions. Lorthermur's forces were led to Deadwind Pass where they set up a camp for a week. Later, they moved to Duskwood where they are today... They set up camp in Raven Hill, a graveyard full of corpses. Time to Redemption! With the Field Commander of the Scourge and the Baron dead, and Lorthermur/Gabriel in control of their actions, they figured it was time to redeem themselves, since most of their followers were undead risen from the graveyards of Lordaeron (which made them officially "People of Lordaeron"), among with necromancers they started trying to develop a cure for undeath, ( just like the Tauren are trying to develop a cure to heal the Forsaken). At this stage, these undead were now called the "Reborn", for three reasons: *They wanted to redeem themselves, by maintaining a treaty of neutrality with most Alliance Caravans and villages; *They offered to help the Alliance in the War Effort against the Horde; *They were once humans and their leader was once a Hero for the Alliance; The third reason was what probably made King Varian tolerate their presence in Human territory, besides the fact that Varian despised Garrosh Hellscream and the desire to triumph over him, led him to consider that because of Hellscream being a strong and skilled Warrior, he would need all the help he could get. The Cataclysm Lorthermur and the Reborn have many enemies... Deathwing, the most recent Rival, the races of the Horde and the Twilight are the worst of them. These now fight to save Azeroth, recognizing that perphaps all is doomed if evil and good dont unite in arms against the Aspect of Death... A few weeks later, about a month and a half, the Twilight (battalions of warriors, warlocks, hunters and a few elementals) opened several rifts to Azeroth, eliminating everything in their way, to make a "statement", the Reborn were among the Azerothian Forces to be attacked. They caused heavy losses to the Twilight Strike Force, and suffered many too but always getting "fresh corpses" to supply their army. The Twilight Forces were not prepared to face the Scourge in Azeroth. They managed, however to put the Reborn out of action after a 4 day long battle... War Preparations Two months later after constant battles, the entire Duskwood is now in Reborn control, their current base is Raven's Hill. With the undead army growing, King Varian ended the neutrality between the former Lordaeronians and Stormwind. With the number of enemies increasing, Gabriel and his forces have to contend with: the Alliance, the Horde, and the Twilight Hammer. They seek the Rebirth of the Mighty Empire of the Dead to wipe all who do not accept them.